How Long Are You Willing To "Believe"?

During the winter holidays, there's a lot of focus on the power of believing. i.e. I've heard more than a few parents in my town say to their kids, "If you don't believe, you don't receive," referring to whether or not they'll be presents from Santa waiting for them on Christmas morning. As adults, the message to believe is year-round. We're constantly seeing videos, blog posts, and inspirational quotes. In social media feeds and online sites, we are bombarded with the importance of believing until it comes true.

Yet, when's the last time you believed, even when everything around you suggested it was time to give up?

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Which means, believing for an extended period of time can make us look crazy. That's the real reason why people give up on things they believe in, isn't it? They don't want to look foolish doing the same thing but not getting any results. And yet, every person whose success I admire gives the same advice. In the words of the band, Journey, they cry, "Don't stop... believing. Hold on to that feeling."

When you truly believe, you're unable to quit.

I came up with the idea for what is now WorkItDaily.com in late 2008. I've been committed to the mission of dropping the economic and geographic boundaries to good career support for a decade. And yet, only recently has the idea really taken off. In the last 6 months, we've grown more than the last 9 years. For me and my team, it's been a weird experience. We've waited so long for this day. Now, it's here, and it doesn't feel real. To most normal people, I should have given up years ago. Every possible adversity I could think of (and, plenty I never dreamed of), have occurred. I'm guaranteed to experience more. And yet, I can tell you this:

I woke up on every bad day and said, "Is today the day I stop believing?" The answer was always, "no."

That's the real test of the strength of your belief. When giving up would be more painful than enduring the humiliation of being seen a fool, you know your belief is part of who you are. It's not easy, but I can't imagine not having something so powerful in my life. My belief gives me purpose.

TRY THIS TODAY: If you gave up on something because you were embarrassed, I challenge you to go back to it. Give yourself the gift of belief this holiday season. You deserve it!

My name is J.T. - I believe life isn't about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself. My job is to help people get better at how they create their careers. If you're looking for daily inspiration and feel a connection to what I've written, I hope you'll follow me here and consider sharing it with your peers on LinkedIn. Why don't we all Work It Daily and become better together?